Neil Aspin is warning there won’t be any time to relax as Port Vale try to seal their place in the Football League.

Four points in two key games over the Easter weekend gave the club a major step forward to staying in League Two. They sit nine points clear of second-bottom Chesterfield – who have played three fewer games – heading into this weekend’s home clash with mid-table Crawley.

But the manager insists there will be no let up in his approach until safety is guaranteed.

He said: “I can’t emphasise enough the importance of that Chesterfield game. We had to win that game. When you’re playing a derby, although we were in pole position and should have seen it out, it’s always important you don’t lose. At the start you think we mustn’t lose.

“With four points from the two games it was better to beat Chesterfield and draw with Crewe than the other way around.

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“It sets us up for Crawley. I’ve been back for a number of games now and there’s not been one except for the last five minutes against Luton when we have been able to relax. They’ve all been tense and tight and there’s going to be no difference over the last five games.

“Hopefully we can get the points as quickly as possible that will see us to safety.”

Port Vale boss Neil Aspin

Estimates vary about how many points will be required to stay out of the relegation zone.

When Aspin was asked if one more win or two would be enough he said: “Give me a couple of wins and I’ll be absolutely delighted! That would give us a points total getting towards where we need to be.

“You don’t set targets because you don’t know what other teams are going to do.

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“We’ve just go to try to maintain our own form. Although we’ve not won the games that we would have liked we’ve been very difficult to beat and we’ve kept picking up points regularly. We’ve always been in games and I think we’ve deserved more points from recent performances.

“There’s been an improvement and we’ve got to keep that going until the end of the season.”